Experience some of the capital region’s best-known tourist attractions for free or at a discount during the 46th annual Be A Tourist in your Own Home Town at various venues, this weekend and next.
The event is an opportunity for locals — and lucky visitors — to experience more than 50 attractions and activities for only $15.
A VIP card acts as an all-access pass during the four-day event.
Show it for free cotton candy at Sweet Delights, 25 per cent off selected meals at Noodlebox Douglas Street, 50 per cent off admission at the Victoria Bug Zoo or 25 per cent off a Tally Ho Carriage horse-drawn tour.
“The whole idea is to give locals an excuse to sight-see in their own home town, to do something fun that they would normally not do,” said Kate Clark, manager of Tally Ho.
The promotion is so popular that she recommends that people to book in advance, as demand for seats on 45-minute sightseeing carriage rides often exceeds supply.
You can also take a self-guided wine-tasting tour at some of the region’s legion of distilleries, cideries and wineries, with free tasting at De Vine Vineyard, Victoria Distillers and Sea Cider as well as two for one and 50 per cent off tastings at Category 12 Brewing, Tod Creek Cider and Victoria Caledonian Brewery and Distillery.
At Victoria Butterfly Gardens, 50 per cent of the $5 admission will be donated to charity.
The biggest change for 2018 is the fact the promotion is now on two weekends instead of through the week.
“People kept telling us that there was so much to do — but not enough time to do it,” said Ali Pollen, co-ordinator for Attractions Victoria, the host of the event. “By offering the promotion over two weekends, we expect to see up to 10,000 people take advantage of the offer.”
New attractions this year include the B.C. Aviation Museum, Ballet Victoria, the Star Cinema in Sidney and the Rolling Barrel Pub Crawl.
The VIP card is $15, or buy four and get one free. It is available at The Bay Centre, Uptown Shopping Centre, Tourism Victoria, Red Barn Market, Noodlebox, Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea or online.
The event runs Friday to Sunday and repeats next weekend, March 2 to 4. For information, go to attractionsvictoria.com/be-a-tourist.
Speaker series covers fascinating history of steamships
Discover how the Canadian Pacific’s Princess steamships helped shape the history of coastal British Columbia at the Maritime Museum’s Nautical Nights speaker series, tonight at the museum.
The talk — titled Canadian Pacific’s B.C. Coast Steamship Service and the Challenges of the Coast — covers the period from the early 1900s until the 1970s.
The Princesses — the Maquinna, Joan, May, Mary, Marguerite and Kathleen — were some of the fastest and most luxurious vessels working on the Pacific coast of North America during their time.
Elegant and well built, they carried generations of travellers, families, seasonal workers, members of the Armed Forces, trappers, miners, loggers and others on fast inter-city services, on cruises to Alaska and on services to remote logging camps, fish canneries, mines and settlements.
The Princesses became legends along the coast and are remembered decades after they passed into history.
Tonight’s program features photographs and stories of the Princesses and the people who travelled or worked on them.
Tickets are $10 for the general public, $8 for museum members. Doors open at 6:30.
The talk runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Maritime Museum, 634 Humboldt St.
Seating is limited, so advance ticket purchase is recommended. For more information, go to mmbc.bc.ca.
Wanderland weekend opens up window of creative opportunity
The James Bay Community Centre and James Bay New Horizons are set to stage the first Window Wanderland community festival in North America, Saturday and Sunday.
Everyone is encouraged to create a display in the window of a home, building, business, school, church, daycare or even a vehicle. The goal is to transform everyday streets into magical outdoor galleries.
A display could be as simple as a lit candle, an illuminated book or image, fairy lights or toy balloons. You could just throw open your curtains or you could go all- out and stage a performance in your front room or project images onto your building. Simple or spectacular, anything goes — so long as it’s family-friendly.
People are invited to stroll around James Bay and take it all in, with display locations identified on the event website and in print.
The family-friendly event is sponsored by the City of Victoria through a community celebration grant.
The Window Wanderland website shows a number of similar events about to take place in the United Kingdom, along with James Bay.
The James Bay event runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Maps of participating homes and businesses are available at New Horizons, 234 Menzies St.; James Bay Community School Centre, 140 Oswego St.; and Heron Rock Bistro (Croft at Simcoe streets) on the nights of the event. For more information, go to windowwanderland.com, Facebook or email jamesbayww@gmail.com.
Victoria’s diversity is cause for celebration
Celebrate Victoria’s diversity, welcome immigrants and refugees and make meaningful connections at the Welcome Celebration of Immigrants and Refugees, Saturday at Victor Brodeur School.
Everyone is invited to gather for this celebration of inclusiveness and multiculturalism, an opportunity to connect with long-established former refugees and immigrants in the community.
The event includes an artisan craft fair, a women’s fashion show, guest speakers and interactive activities, including the I’ve Not Always Been Canadian photo-story exhibit.
This is a family-friendly event, with children and youth activities taking place throughout the day, including friendly soccer games and other sports, storytelling and a kids’ corner.
The event is hosted by the B.C. Francophone Immigration Program.
The event is free. It runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Victor Brodeur School, 637 Head St.
For more information, contact Ximena Londoño on 250 800 1601 or email xlondono@ffcb.ca.
Black history tour visits cemetery
Visit the final resting place of Sir James Douglas and learn more about some of the black pioneers of Victoria at the B.C. Black History Ross Bay Cemetery Tour on Sunday.
The guided tour of the gravesite will be hosted by Valin Marshall of the B.C. Black History Awareness Society and John Adams of the Old Cemetery Society.
The migration of black pioneers to B.C. in 1858 was designated as a historically significant event by the federal government in 1997.
The tour will visit the graves of Sir James Douglas and others who played a role in the migration.
Tickets are $5 for the public and $2 for Old Cemetery Society and B.C. Black History Awareness Society members. Arrive 10 minutes early to purchase your ticket. The event runs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Ross Bay Cemetery, 1516 Fairfield Rd. Meet at Oregano’s Pizza in the Fairfield Shopping Plaza. For more information, go to bcblackhistory.ca.
30 concert bands play at university
Enjoy performances by 30 concert bands at Bandfest, a non-competitive festival featuring ensembles from the Pacific Northwest, Feb. 28 to March 2 at the University of Victoria.
Hosted by the University of Victoria School of Music, the performance by music students will receive an on-stage clinic adjudication.
The event is free to attend. The festival takes place at the University Centre Farquahar Auditorium.
For more information, go to finearts.uvic.ca/music/calendar/events/bandfest-2018.
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